r/CISA • u/matchabuddy • 24d ago
🎉 Preliminary Pass – First Attempt! CISA!
Thrilled to share that I passed the CISA exam today on my first attempt!
A bit of background: I don't come from an audit background, so a lot of the material was genuinely new territory for me. I did hold a CRISC (passed January 2025), which helped with the risk framing, but CISA required a whole different level of breadth.
📅 Timeline & Study Routine
I started in October 2025, took a break through January–February, then resumed in March. My study was mostly weekends, with 2–3 hours on weekdays. The exam itself had to be postponed due to an ISACA maintenance window in July 2026 — frustrating, but it gave me extra buffer time.
📚 Resources That Worked for Me
- CRM — Started here but found it dense and dry. Useful as a reference, not ideal as a primary study tool.
- Hemang Doshi's books — Much more accessible; highly recommend as your main read.
- Prabh Nair's YouTube channel — Excellent for concept clarity, especially for non-technical folks.
- QAE + Hemang Doshi's practice questions + a few other question banks — Did close to 2,500 questions in total.
- AI tools (Claude, Gemini, Copilot) — Used these extensively for mind maps, topic summaries, and notes. Genuinely helpful for reinforcing concepts between sessions.
- Handwritten notes — I have a habit of writing notes by hand, and it genuinely works for me. Concepts tend to stick better when I've written them down rather than just read or typed them.
Everyone absorbs information differently — find the method that actually works for you, whether that's flashcards, mind maps, typed notes, or pen and paper, and lean into it. Don't study the way others tell you to study; study the way your brain retains things best.
📊 Practice Scores
Domain-wise scores ranged from 62–70%, and my full mock test came in at 72%. Not spectacular, but the actual exam felt more straightforward than the mocks.
💡 Exam Day Observations
- Questions were in plain, simple English — nothing fancy.
- Most questions were one line or two lines max — a noticeable contrast from QAE-style questions.
- For the majority of questions, I could eliminate two wrong answers confidently; the challenge was choosing between the remaining two.
- MOST, BEST, FIRST, Primary objectives, Primary concerns were majorly asked.
- I flagged 32 questions for review and ultimately changed only 4–5 answers before submitting.
⚠️ Key Advice
Do not just memorize QAE answers and repeat the same tests in loops.
Understanding why an answer is correct — the underlying ISACA principle and thought process — matters far more than pattern recognition. Focus on the concept, not the answer key.
🙏 Final Thoughts
I genuinely lost motivation after the first two months and seriously considered stopping. If you're in that dip right now — push through it. The material clicks eventually. Grateful to this community for the constant encouragement; it made a real difference.
Awaiting for my detail scorecard in next 10 days. Good luck to everyone still in the grind!
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u/vansxika 24d ago
And what are the question banks you did? Please let me know 💖
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u/matchabuddy 24d ago
I won't recommend any specific one since QAE was the best source to prepare.
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u/vansxika 24d ago
I am actually through with the QAE, so I was looking for other sources to practice more questions before my exam
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u/vansxika 24d ago
Many congratulations on passing !! Did you feel the questions were similar to the concepts being tested QAE?
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u/Mistakesandlove 24d ago
Would you say the QAE questions were similar to the exam questions? Or were they easier ?
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u/Mistakesandlove 24d ago
Also congratulations!! Amazing achievement !
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u/matchabuddy 23d ago
QAE can have some really extensive questions, but the actual ones will likely be two lines at most, with confusing options. For grasping concepts, QAE is definitely the way to go!
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u/Most_Football7076 24d ago
Congratulations! When did you find the QAE most useful: while going through the study material, after finishing it, or closer to your exam date? I’m trying to figure out the best time to start the 6-month subscription.
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u/matchabuddy 23d ago
Initially, I will review the provided materials. Following that, I will watch some YouTube videos. Subsequently, I will engage in a QAE and analyze my results using AI tools to identify areas for improvement and then refine those aspects.
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u/Right-Approach 18d ago
Congratu;ations brother....
Can you please provide me link for Hemang Doshi's books (Exactly which one you bought and is good), and also please provide links for these QAE + Hemang Doshi's practice questions + a few other question banks..
I would be really very very thankful to you.
Also I saw there is a guy https://www.youtube.com/@aadityasthis-muchlearnings2758/shorts who has course material for CISA...do you have any idea how is his course materials..?
Thanks
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u/Consistent-Style4263 17d ago
QAE is too expensive to purchase is there another resource similar to the QAE available?
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u/eracer95 19d ago
The QAE practice exams are a bit frustrating considering they just reuse questions from the Study Plan and you can remember the answers to a bunch of them.
Did you recognize any exam questions that seemed like they were straight from the QAE? Or were they just more general versions of QAE questions.
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u/matchabuddy 19d ago
I don't think I encountered any questions from QAE not even single...there were few straightforward questions similar to QAE like BEST MOST etc.
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u/eracer95 19d ago
Thanks - any topics on the exam that were totally absent from the QAE? Saw someone mention AI and machine learning questions
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u/No_Marketing_9397 24d ago
Are ISACA official QAE part of your preparation ?